To go hiking without Oliver feels both strange and sad; there is something essential missing from the whole experience. Still, I know Oliver does no longer have the physical capacity needed for hiking, and I would miss hiking too much to give it up entirely. Therefore, it was comforting that the first hike at home would be in the company of a few old friends and colleagues; I was also dog sitting Chiko that day so, of course, he also joined us.

Lofoten is a place that grabs you. The steep mountains create a dramatic effect in a landscape that otherwise is at sea level, and the ocean offers fast and violent changes in weather. It is easy to fall in love with this landscape, and those that are tempted to visit Lofoten do not always return back home.

While I walked there I thought about how much had happened since I hiked Björnturen last year. I have been out on my own a lot, but also with others. I have actually done everything and more than I thought I would be capable of. And I have done it all together with Oliver and Charlie. There and then I felt rather proud of my own achievements and by how much I had learned and grown in just one year.

A hiking trail leading through the Småland forest landscape and places with beautiful views along a path that in the past was known and feared for highwaymen sounded very appealing to me. I saw before me paths weaving their way through deep and mossy coniferous forests and over stony hills in a landscape that would remind me of John Bauer’s paintings. I was wrong.

During the winter half-year I have visited several places that I have thought I must return to in the spring to see the budding flowers, or I must visit here again and bring the tent once it is summer was and nature is dressed in green. The Klockaretorp Trail is one of those places.

While I write this there is still gear hanging to dry everywhere in my flat. Sleeping bag and sleeping mats in the living room, the tent is in the hall and drygbags hang in the kitchen. We have just come home from a three day long packrafting adventure on the river Nittälven, located in Kopparberg. My muscles are both tired and sore, but I am also still feeling elated from this amazing adventure.

Fjällmossen is a nature reserv in Kolmården known for its old pine forest, open landscape of bogs and for being the home of the protected orchid dactylorhiza sphagnicola. It was here we went when I was invited to join a day hike one Saturday in March.

Do it and then do it better! The first time I slept outdoors with Oliver and Charlie in the winter all three of us were cold, the dogs more so than I. I had many ideas on how they would stay warm in the future and eventually decided on converting two sleeping bags to fit them.